Strictly's Ola Jordan reacts to devastating Southport murders - 'I'm so angry'
Mother and dancer Ola Jordan has expressed her heartbreak at the tragic murders of young girls Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, in Southport.
The former Strictly star, who shares her four-year-old daughter Ella with her professional dancer husband James Jordan, writes in her column Ola & Ella of her shock at the attack, sending her condolences to the families.
Below, Ola also updates us on her week with her family's plans for the coming months…
Southport heartbreak
The murders of those three little girls at the dance class is horrendous. I'm so angry about it, it's devastating. I just don't understand. Poor little things, they're so innocent, and for the children who were there and saw it all, it will have affected them so badly just being there. It's very, very sad.
Yesterday I was sitting at home, and I had my door open to the garden and I was thinking, we're going to be scared of opening our doors in the summer. It's all so awful. My heart goes out to the families.
Ella on holiday
Ella is at home all the time now for the summer holidays. I thought it would be hard but I'm enjoying having her in the day with me, she's been a good girl.
We've been loving the hot weather – Ella's been in the garden a lot. She's got a miniature bouncy castle out there which is brilliant. It was quite expensive but well worth the money because she plays on it all the time. She's quite active and gets bored when playing with her dollies. The bouncy castle has a slide and balls, it keeps her occupied for ages.
She gets James and I on it, of course. I get in and remove all the spiders. She won't get in if there's a spider on there. I deal with all the spiders in the house by the way - even for James. He is worse than Ella! He screams at the slightest little bug.
This morning Ella called me because there was a spider in the bathroom. There was a massive spider inside the toilet. He couldn't get out. I was like, 'Oh my god Ella!' But of course James was nowhere to be seen… he had run a mile, so I had to deal with it as usual.
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A new home?
We've been house hunting with Ella today, but to be honest with you, we haven't found anywhere we like yet so we're still looking.
This house that we're in right now is lovely but it isn't my forever house. I want a big family house – I'm still looking for my dream home. I want a kitchen with an island and a big entertaining space going out to the garden.
We bought our current house so we didn't have to rent anymore and we couldn't find our perfect house at the time. Our previous home had an outdoor swimming pool but I wouldn't necessarily have a pool again; it's a big cost and you really have to look after it. In England there are hardly any hot days when you can use it.
Ella is funny when we're house hunting. She goes, 'Mummy I don't like this one' and, 'Oh this one doesn't have a pool'! She's helping us pick. She's very opinionated. James will find something like a squeaky floorboard and she'll go, 'Oh look daddy, there's one here as well'. She'll say, 'Mummy that's a nice garage, isn't it?' She hears us talk about it. It's sweet.
James is training hard
James is busy training for his upcoming Legends Tour at the moment. I haven't been joining him in working out – it's been too hot. I can't bear to go and run 5k! But he's been really good, cleaning up his diet and training hard.
He is really looking forward to dancing on stage again and being with all his mates on tour. The tickets are selling so well, I know it will be a fantastic show and Ella and I are looking forward to going to see it.
He's got rehearsals in Birmingham for two days this week with his dance partner for the tour. Her name is Polina. You might not know her, but she does a lot of different shows and is a real talent. It will be strange for me to see him dance with another professional woman but I am going to stay home and look after Ella.
I'm just going to be home playing with Ella while he is there. It's hard to think of activities to do with her every day – from parks, to Play-Doh. It's like, 'Mummy what do we play now?' She's got so many toys in her playroom but all she wants is my attention. She doesn't have a sibling, so she gets lonely. I need to get some friends over for her.
The elusive date night
It's been ages since James and I had a date night. It's been difficult because my sister has been ill, and she normally babysits for me. She has had pneumonia for a long time, I have been really worried about her but hopefully she is on the mend.
Hopefully, James and I will get some time together before he goes on tour. My niece just finished her GCSEs, she's 16, so maybe she can look after Ella sometimes for us. James is on tour for my birthday and our anniversary, unfortunately.
Ella knows that her daddy is going on tour, and he'll be away for a long time. She says, 'But daddy, we can talk on the phone.' It's very sweet. He'll have finished his tour by Ella's October half term, so he can have Ella for a week and I'll go away! [laughs] That's a good idea, isn't it?
I think it's unlikely Ella will become a mummy's girl while he's away. It doesn't matter how nice our days are together, she'll always be a daddy's girl. We'll play games and she says, 'I hope you win daddy'. She never says that to me! They have a lovely bond, I love watching them together.
